About the partnership
What we do
Advocacy and policy
Building parliamentary support for reform. Equipping MPs, councillors and local leaders with briefings and evidence. Coordinating with legal and policy allies to resist changes that would extend NRPF's reach.
Communications and messaging
Changing how NRPF is perceived and talked about. The partnership has invested in narrative research to understand what messages work with different audiences, and is training spokespeople – including people who've lived under NRPF – to use those frames effectively.
Movement-building
Growing the coalition. Bringing in organisations from beyond the migration sector: children's charities, housing organisations, domestic abuse services, unions, faith groups – and building their ability to push for change together.
Research and evidence
Filling gaps in the data. Publishing research briefs that support advocacy and media work. Pushing for better government data collection on the impacts of NRPF.
History
●
In 2022, we started asking a simple question: How can organisations work more collaboratively on NRPF?
We looked at how existing work was being funded: who was paying for it, what it was going towards, and what was falling through the gaps. Support was spread across a handful of migration-focused funders, and mostly directed at frontline services rather than deeper change.
●
Meanwhile, organisations and funders alike were asking for the same things: more space to collaborate and the resources for meaningful participation.
●
Out of all these conversations came an idea for a collective impact partnership – a structured way for organisations to work together toward shared goals.
This proposal was taken to independent funders, with three asks: contribute to a pooled fund, trust the people doing the work to decide how it's spent, and make sure the money is new – not redirected from frontline support - all of which continue to remain critical elements of our fundraising strategy.
●
●
The Partnership launched in 2023 and got underway in 2024, with a founding steering group, regular meetings, and the first wave of activities.
It is coordinated by three ‘backbone’ partner organisations:
Citizens UK, Migration Exchange and Praxis.
Values
The steering group is developing and refining the partnership's values, but these are the principles we keep coming back to:
Openness to new ideas.
We want every conversation – with the sector, potential allies and funders – to lead to genuine problem-solving.
Connection.
The partnership exists to build relationships between organisations that might otherwise work in parallel, facilitating their collaboration so we can jointly act when it matters most.
Co-design.
Strategy and priorities grow from the people involved, not from a fixed blueprint.
Equity.
Anyone interested should be able to participate meaningfully, regardless of their organisation's size or resources. Participation funding is available to make that possible.
How we work
The partnership uses a collective impact model. That means a shared goal, coordinated activities across many organisations, and a structure that puts decision-making in the hands of the people closest to the issue.
Steering group
The partnership's governing body, made up of experts, most of whom are people with direct lived experience of NRPF. They set strategy, decide how funds are spent, and hold the partnership accountable.
Working groups
Focused on specific areas within the partnership's strategy. Depending on the nature and duration of the work, membership varies. For example, our advocacy and policy working group meets monthly and includes advocacy and policy leaders across the migration sector, alongside steering group members.
Reference group
An annual online meeting open to anyone working on NRPF – a chance to hear updates, share ideas, and stay connected to the partnership's progress.
Coordination backbone group
Citizens UK, Migration Exchange and Praxis coordinate the partnership's activities. Global Dialogue acts as host, holding and releasing funds and conducting due diligence.
Get involved
If you're interested in joining the partnership, get in touch.
Funding
The partnership is funded by independent trusts and foundations. Ten have contributed so far, either to the pooled fund or aligned grants to backbone organisations.
The pooled fund is the core of the model. Rather than each funder directing their grant toward a specific activity, most of the contributions go into a single pot. The steering group decides how that money is spent – based on where it can have the most impact.
The budget covers two areas:
People:
participation funding for steering group and working group members, capacity building, leadership development, and the backbone group's coordination work.
Programme:
communications and messaging, advocacy and policy, learning and evaluation, public affairs, research, and a flex fund for grantmaking that allows the partnership to move quickly when we need to.
We would like to thank all the funders of the Partnership for their support.